Illustration for Twisting-Toyz
WWII action figures
[link]

Sketch by Davide Fabbri
color by me... (this is one of the first we did)


MAXIM M1910

The first Russian Maxim gun was adopted as early as 1895. This 7,62 mm. Gun was not considered satisfactory so a gradual development work was undertaken; the first produced PM1905 model can be considered the basis of the subsequent Russian/Soviet Maxim gun, the PM1910 (Pulemat Maksima obr 1910). On this model the main visual alteration between the early version and the late one was the substitution of the original bronze water jacket around the gun by a corrugated steel jacket. The other change introduced on the PM1910 was the Sokolov mounting. The Sokolov mounting was designed to withstand the worst that Russian conscripts could inflict while introducing more mobility to the gun that was achievable using the conventional tripods. In many ways the Sokolv mounting resembled a small artillery carriage, complete with solid steel wheels, a traversing turnable, a short trail for hand towing and even a shield. The carriage was stable and extremely sturdy, but the gun and carriage together weighted 74Kg./163lb. For most infantry units the only way to transport the PM1910 was either to tow it by hand or, under rough terrain conditions, to carry it manually. The PM1910 served reliably throughout the Great War and the Russian Civil War, firing the fabric belt-fed 7,62 cartridge at a steady cyclic rate of 520 to 600 rounds per minute. During the 1930s some changes were introduced, mainly concerning ease of production. The sights were simplified, non-ferrous components were replaced by steel and some construction changes were introduced to the receiver. The filling of the water jacket was made easier by the introduction of a tractor radiator cap large enough to allow handfuls of snow or ice to be inserted when necessary. The PM1910 worked well under a wide range of tough conditions but by 1925 it had been decided that it needed to be replaced by something lighter. Development of that was so slow that by the late 1930s the only candidate under consideration was an air-cooled Degtyarev design, the DS-39. Although the development of this gun began in 1930 it was never completely satisfactory and mass production was only just starting when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The only choice open to the Soviet planners was to reintroduce PM1910 mass production again. By yet another major expansion of weapon production under the most adverse conditions, PM1910 production rose from the 9,691 total of 1941 to 55,258 during 1942. Losses and the expantion of the Soviet armed forces meant that such numbers were far from enough and so for 1944 the annual total reached 270,000. By 1945 the PM1910 lines were finally being run down. By that time the PM1910 grand production total had been estimated 600,000, making the Tsarist/Soviet 7,62 mm. M1910 the most numerous of all the many types of Maxim gun, and the longest lasting.